I’m not very good with words. Never have been.
So I’m writing this to let you know how much you’ve changed my life. How my every waking moment is filled with thoughts of you.
I hope one day you’ll read this.
When you grow up and learn how, of course.
Franca is a bilingual English language teacher and proud grandmother. She belongs to an international creative writing group and now lives in Italy with her husband of 40 years.
He thought he heard Marion in the house, her rusty rattle-breath.
He checked her recliner (re-plumping cushions), the tidy side of their bed (still indented), the bathroom floor (heaven forbid).
Finally he rang through to Ward 6, pressed her discordant song to his ear. Danced it from room to room.
Linda Irish wrote this story.
He’d become predictable, springing through the patio doors unto the deck, BB gun ablaze whenever any squirrel touched a bird feeder. So this time they waited, massing along the edge of the roof overhanging the deck. When he sprang, hundreds of squirrels pounced, joined even (how ironic!) by the birds.
Tony Jasnowski teaches English at Bellevue University and tries to keep peace between all factions in his backyard and himself.
Listen to Grandma, I was told.
“Little steps help you climb the ladder of success.”
“Never look back, onward and upwards.”
“Wipe away the smears of detractors.”
Thanks, Grandma.
“Shine in your achievements; be part of the gleaming city.”
Good advice; so I quit university and became a window cleaner.
Stuart is from Christchurch New Zealand. He is retired and enjoys writing flash and short stories. He is working on a children’s book.
Just one more cookie, she thinks. Just one more. Life is short. May as well enjoy it. Where’s the harm? She has no way of knowing that when she’s 40 years old, her seven-year-old son will say she weighs a thousand pounds when she leans over to kiss him goodnight.
Michelle is a contributing author in the most recent Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Canada, and a quarterfinalist in the 2017 ScreenCraft Short Screenplay contest. Her writing has won several awards and appeared in The Globe and Mail (one of Canada’s National newspapers) and a number of local magazines and newspapers in Alliston, including The Briar Crier, Total Sports, Voice of the Farmer, Arts Talk and Focus 50 Plus. Her short story “Lightning Strikers” was made into a series in the Focus 50 +Newspaper because fans asked for more! You can find her online at commuterlit.com, FiftyWordStories.com, FeminineCollective.com, michelledinnick.com and @MichelleDinnick.
The diner was a clean, well lighted place, open around-the-clock.
I was working the counter the night Edward Hopper stopped in.
He asked me why I wasn’t wearing a paper hat.
I shrugged and said, “The cook wears a hairnet.”
“Well, I’m giving you a hat,” he said, sketching feverishly.
Bob Thurber is the author of “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel” and two collections of stories. A celebrated master of Flash and Micro Fiction,” his work has appeared in 60 anthologies, received dozens of awards, and been used in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts where, despite severe vision loss, he continues to write every day. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.
The story of the week for February 26 to March 2 is…
The Garden Path by Sharon Calkin
She didn’t greet him at home, and when he touched her shoulder, she stared at him with eyes full of tears.
“Sorry I’m so late. The traffic sucked, and my phone died. Is that why…?” he nervously asked.
“Five people unfriended me on Facebook this week!” Then she broke down.
Katya Duft is a translator, interpreter, and language teacher, and enjoys writing short stories, poetry, and her blog Tales from the Bus.
Russell walked into his English class and took a seat towards the middle. He wondered what everyone in class thought about his story. It received two likes on Facebook. Hillary walked passed him, stopped and said that his story stunk.
It made Russell smile. They hated Salinger at first, too.
Mark Konik is a writer from Newcastle, Australia. He writes short stories and plays.
“How you get here?”
“Businessman—sold weapons and made a pile. Some collateral damage, but that’s life. Wife drowned me. You?”
“Dictator. Started war, made much money, killed millions until execution. This Hell not so bad.”
Their black carapaces reflect distant mushroom clouds as Earth’s latest inheritors scuttle for shelter.
Viv Burgess thinks her muse needs a pep talk and possibly a good holiday.